Hey I'm starting to polish my intake manifold and I'm using stone bits to smooth out the aluminum so I can sand it smooth. Is this the right way to do it? and what kind of little sanders will get it "polished" smooth to 600grit? I tried the dremel bits but they wear out fast and jump all over the place. I have about 4 hours into it now and I only have what is done in the picture. So advice, comments and questions are welcome.

Pic of the front progress
How the heck to you polish in there
Dremel bit

 

I figured it out. Turn the dremel speed down and sanding bits last 3x longer.

 

sounds like me. I was with a buddy and I said "man I love this stone bit it works awesome" 2 seconds pass then it exploded into a million little pieces



But they do make a manifold smoothing/polishing kit. You can get everything you need from www.eastwood.com

 

Or you could go here http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...33&iSubCat=436 and buy this stuff.

 

i might just grab some 180, 320, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 and get out the elbow grease..

 

I started with 220 and I'm actually making good progress. I'd thought I'd get nowhere hand sanding. I'm going to sand to 600 grit and them using a polishing kit with alot of cut.

 

20 hours later....

http://www.adamshipley.com/camaroz28/polished.jpg

 

That looks awesome. Do you have more pics?

I think I would have rather send out my intake to get jet hot coated though to be honest. 20 hrs is a looong time!

 

ya I'll take more but 20 hours is only half over. I've been doing about 2-3 a day and I skipped a few days. So whenever I get time I work on it a little.

Here's another pic:
http://www.adamshipley.com/camaroz28/polished2.jpg

The first 5 hours I was just goofing off, testing out sanding bits and stones. I got the hang of it now. The most time consuming part has got the be hand sanding the little curves and gaps.

I used an angle grinder to smooth out the extra ugly casting metal. Alot of dremel sanding bits and stones and a palm sander help out alot too. I also have black, brown and white jewelers rouge, and this stuff is Great!

I think I could get the next one done in about 20 hours total, but since this is the first one, it took longer for the learning curve.